The Student Government Association has agreed to allocate funds to Student Life’s newest organization, Retriever in Distress: Geese Eradication Enterprise for a Safer Environment (RID:GEESE).

The club’s main focus is to address the growing issues by removing the geese from the premises. Countless students, faculty and staff have been stalked, hissed at and even attacked by these creatures. The geese have been on campus for many years (they even have a Facebook page), but recent incidents have had community members drawing the line.

RID:GEESE will meet weekly on Mondays during free hour in the University Center Plaza. They hope to remove the geese from the premises by peaceful methods, if possible. They have partnered with the visual arts department to construct student decoys, which they are hoping will lure the geese into a humane trap.

Once captured, the geese will be taken to Patapsco State Park. Facilities Management has also agreed to cooperate, saying that they will provide supplies necessary to trap and transport the geese.

While SGA typically evaluates funding at the beginning of each term, there is an “emergency collective” clause which allows groups that address an urgent need to be created mid-semester. SGA leadership fully supported the quick action, releasing a statement which concluded, “Someone needs to show these geese who is the dominant species.”

These avian pests, who typically reside and nest by the pond, pose particular challenges to the offices nearby including Undergraduate Admissions and Orientation and Financial Aid and Scholarships.

“The geese are terrorizing this campus,” said assistant dean of Admissions Angela Henderson. “I don’t want guests for our programs being stalked or having to navigate through their droppings. It’s disgusting.”

The Canada goose (Branta canadensis) lives for 10-25 years. Contrary to the name, these geese only reside in Canada for the summer breeding season. Appallingly, they permeate our landscape – from coast to coast in central the U.S. – year-round. Farther South, they gather only during the winter months. Very successful to adapting to human development, they are considered to be a pest species. Incidents of goose attacks have been well documented, particularly at other college campuses.

“I was just walking from my car in Walker Garage to the front of the library and I was attacked,” said one student who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from goose-sympathizers. “They did that weird thing with their neck and hissed and honked at me until I was forced to back down. I had to take the long way around.”

The new organization’s biggest challenge is ensuring displaced geese do not return to campus. They are exploring the possibility of putting wire fencing around the pond to discourage the geese from gathering. However, this solution would only be temporary. Looking forward, club leadership is negotiating with an outside contractor to install a product that will likely prevent their return permanently.

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